Welcome to the seventh issue of IJPPM this year

Welcome to the seventh issue of IJPPM this year. We have eight thought-provoking and diverse papers in this issue ranging with studies in Ghana, Iran, India, the USA, Canada and Italy, using a broad variety of methods.

Famiyeh and Kwarteng provide insights into the implementation of environmental management practices (EMP) in Ghana. They used a survey questionnaire collected from 219 managers either in manufacturing or extracting industries. Employing factor analysis, the findings supported that regulative and mimetic institutional pressure have a significant influence on EMP whereas normative institutional pressure did not have a significant influence.

Salehi, Lari Dashtbayaz and Mohammadi study the relationship between management characteristics and firm innovation in Tehran Stock Exchange-listed companies. Using data from 125 companies, descriptive-correlational design and panel data regression models were applied. They found that managerial entrenchment has a negative effect on innovation, whereas managerial ability could foster innovation; surprisingly neither agency cost nor overconfidence has a significant effect.

Adaku, Amoako-Gyampah, Kwasi, Lomotey, Amoatey and Famiyeh provide another study in Ghana, this time with the Pension Trust Company. They used extensive data (old system: 14,400 claims and new system: 41,600 claims) in two types of programmes and compared them statistically. They found that the new system has reduced processing time by 20 per cent. This is quite an improvement.

Rai and Agarwal investigate the topic of workplace bullying and its influence on innovative work behaviour. Using data from 835 managerial employees in India, they found that workplace bullying is negatively related to workplace innovation and positively related to neglect. Based on their findings, they provide useful recommendations to managers.

Sticking with the workplace, Thomason, Brownlee, Beekman and Rustogi studied individuals’ attraction to different performance appraisal types using a five-factor model of personality types and applying a forced distribution ranking system (FDRS). They surveyed 148 students on graduate-level business courses in the USA. Their findings suggest that FDRS are attractive to those with high levels of psychological entitlement and low levels of conscientiousness, which contrasts with the existing research.

Ochieng presents a case study of financial performance in the non-profit context of US Triathlon. He shows that financial performance is related to both financial effectiveness and financial efficiency; this is particularly important in contexts where financial resources are unreliable.

Marchand and Raymond’s article studies performance measurement and management systems as IT artefacts using the Burton-Jones and Grange’s (2013) theoretical framework. Their work is applied to 16 SMEs in Canada and findings indicate that transparent interaction enables representational fidelity, which in turn enables informed action. This contributes to both the performance management and IS literatures.

Finally, our reflective practice article by Bianchi, Winch and Consenz presents work supporting entrepreneurial capabilities by incorporating individual attributes into organisation routines associated with lean dynamic performance management systems in small and micro enterprises in Italy. Their approach contrasts four organisation types: artisan, new company start-up, established firm and micro-giant company, and utilises system dynamics modelling.

As you can see, again another varied and interesting content to our seventh issue. We hope you enjoy!

Nicky E. Shaw and Luisa Delfa Huaccho Huatuco